The high-profile commercial space company led by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk is opening an office today in Cummings Research Park.

"Huntsville is the Rocket City," spokeswoman Kirstin Brost said Wednesday night. "We want to be a part of it."

The company, which is vying for contracts to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station, isn't trumpeting its arrival.

It will be a small office with a few employees as the company explores new business opportunities, Brost said..

SpaceX already does business with the Army's Space and Missile Defense Command here. SMDC helped establish the SpaceX launch site on Omelek Island in the Pacific Ocean, where the company has already launched five rockets.

The company's plans for a low-key arrival were disrupted by a press release from Huntsville Space Professionals (HSP), the non-profit organization helping find new jobs for laid-off aerospace workers.

Layoffs began in the summer after NASA headquarters froze millions in funding for the Constellation rocket program, much of which was done in Huntsville.

Up to 700 Huntsville workers have been laid off by NASA contractors, and layoffs continue, according to HSP President Andrew Sutinen.

Sutinen's organization, which has been the best source of information on the layoffs, said Wednesday that 15-20 workers a week have been laid off throughout October. Some are Constellation holdovers, and some were employed by the space shuttle program, which is winding down.

Sutinen expects layoffs to continue until Congress funds the new NASA program it authorized last month, something that won't happen before the middle of November at the earliest.

The SpaceX office is located in Discovery Center 1, 689 Discovery Drive. The company's full name is Space Exploration Technologies Corp.